The Social Innovation Award

The Social Innovation Award

This Award recognizes an individual who is an innovative leader who finds solutions to expand economic opportunities, relieve poverty, or increase the financial inclusion of marginalized communities. These is for the individuals who attract, support and inspire some of the most innovative, high-impact social entrepreneurs in India.

Eligibility

Gender: Any

Age Group: 20 to 45 years

Assessment Criteria

Innovation: The best entries will demonstrate a creative approach to the challenge they tackle and the solution they propose. Their innovative approach is driven by original, groundbreaking ideas or being implemented in a way that will make a new significant difference to the community they are operating in.

Measurable Impact: Entries should explain how their initiative delivers positive social, economic, and/or environmental impact, using both quantitative and qualitative data. They would be tackling a significant sustainability issue and will have the potential of making a big difference by being expanded to new markets, sectors, or geographies.

How to Apply

Please send in your nominations with a detailed description of your work & its achievements at awards@bdfoundation.in

Also, please send photographs, videos or any such supporting documents to showcase the purpose, journey and milestones of the community work.

Please mention in Subject : <name> : and The Social Innovation AwardNomination forms must be completed and submitted by December 31, 2018 atawards@bdfoundation.in

Past Recipients

2018: Aniket Doegar, Haqdarshaq

Aniket has been associated with Udaan, a parents’ group of Mentally Challenged Children of Shimla, with an objective of creating and promoting rehabilitation and educational and vocational activities for children with special needs. As part of the second cohort of the Teach for India fellowship, he has taught for two years in a low-income municipal school in Pune and worked extensively on community programs in urban slums. He has also worked with dynamic and young organisations like Gyan Prakash Foundation, Indus Action and Centre for Teacher Accreditation wherein my role focused on School Management Committees, Quality of education, Teacher development and training, policy implementation (Right to Education) and outreach programs in low income rural and urban communities across states like Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

With a goal of working towards a socially and financially inclusive society, Aniket co-founded Hands for You foundation. He started his first project IConnect India in early 2014 to research and pilot an effective delivery mechanism of welfare schemes for the socially and economically marginalized. In July 2015, Aniket co-founded Haqdarshak,a social enterprise, with the aim of increasing financial and social inclusion to over 300 million people living in acute poverty in India by mobilising on ground resources through a hybrid model of technology platforms and handholding. The vision of Haqdarshak is that through the technology platform people get access to information and through collective action from the community we are able to truly create a world class service delivery platform for the underserved in the country and across the world.

2017 : Abhijit Sinha

Abhijit started DEFY amidst many learning experiments he developed in a small village in rural Karnataka. These experiments have led him to believe that learning (or education) must be defined by the learner, based

on his/her own context, instead of the top down practice that exists currently in mainstream education. He was able to create a first learning space where learners designed their own education based on curiosity and interest.

These spaces are called Nooks. Abhijit and his team has created three Nooks, in India and Uganda, and are taking the concept to the rest of the world.

Abhijit has also developed several other social innovations, most notable among them being Bodacart – a $500 ambulance in Uganda.

2016 : Supreet Singh, Safecity

The recipient, Supreet Singh, is a Director with Safecity which aims to make cities safer by encouraging equal access to public spaces for everyone especially women, through the use of crowdsourced data and technology.

2015 : A. Muruganthanam

Arunachalam Muruganantham, the recipient, an Entrepreneur & Inventor, has given women from low income groups in India dignity, by making it possible for them to afford sanitary towels and provide them with income at the same time. From a poor background himself, he created the world’s first low-cost machine to produce sanitary towels. More than 1300 machines made by his start-up company, Jayaashree Industries, are installed across 27 states in India and 7 other countries.

Past Awardees

Abhijit Sinha

Deep kalra

Dilip Kumar Ganta

Faith Gonsalves

Gurmehar Kaur

Ishita Anand

Kant Brothers

Nipun Malhotra

Patu Keswani

Priti Patkar

Rashmi Tiwari

Ria Sharma

Shaili Chopra

Sonal Kapoor

Sunitha Krishanan

Our Mission

Our mission is to create a more inclusive environment where differences are recognized, understood, appreciated, and utilized to its full potential.
We equip individuals, institutions, and communities with the tools needed to build and develop an inclusive world.